


Rise Above the Ashes

by flowerfan



Series: Season 6 Reaction Fics [17]
Category: Glee
Genre: 6x10 reaction fic, Depression, M/M, Rise and Fall of Sue Sylvester
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-08
Updated: 2015-03-08
Packaged: 2018-03-16 23:03:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3506069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flowerfan/pseuds/flowerfan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>6x10 reaction fic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rise Above the Ashes

Kurt watched as Blaine and Kitty hung up the red blazers on the rack, Blaine blushing as Kitty made some crack about the sexual appeal of their new outfits. One of the Warblers (or were they all just New Directions now? Kurt needed to figure that out) bounced up to Blaine to ask him a question, joined quickly by Spencer who stood by attentively, listening as Blaine explained something about the baritone part in _Rise_ and how he wanted the second chorus to differ from the first. 

Kurt turned his attention back to Rachel, who was going on again about her new Broadway role, studiously ignoring Sam who stood off to the side, shuffling sheet music and looking sad. Kurt thought there must be more going on with Sam than there seemed. Blaine probably knew, or if he didn't, he'd know soon. Maybe they should do a guy's night out with Sam, give him some space from Rachel. 

Frankly, Kurt could use some space from Rachel right now, too. It seemed incredible to him how options seemed to just fall in her lap, time after time. She choked on her initial NYADA audition, yet got Carmen to admit her. Then she quit NYADA in a huff for a Broadway role, quit that for television, totally flopped - and now both NYADA and Broadway wanted her back. Kurt loved Rachel, he really did, but sometimes she was hard to take. While Kurt had been working to catch up, to graduate on time despite having started a semester late, to dot every "I" and cross every "T" when it came to his coursework, to keep auditioning despite repeated failures, Rachel just soared through doing whatever she wanted, and her loyal fans continued to bow and scrape.

And then there was Blaine. Kurt was slowly learning more about what had happened with him in those last weeks at NYADA. If there was anyone who deserved a second chance from Carmen, it was Blaine. Hadn't any of the adults involved with their pricey education seen that Blaine needed help? Was cutting him from the program really the only option? And yet Carmen wasn’t making any personal calls to him, not even to see how he was doing. 

Kurt shook his head and pasted a smile on his face as Mr. Schue clapped his hands and launched into another pep talk. Kurt wasn't sure how Mr. Schue had suddenly become their teacher, instead of a co-leader of the group. Kurt would have to step it up soon, or they'd wind up singing _Journey_ again.

The kids began to disperse, rehearsal over for the day. Kurt saw two of the Warblers pause and turn to look over their shoulders at Jane, and then one of them dashed back to her and started babbling something about talent and so impressed and coffee sometime? Kurt smiled to himself. Ah, young love.

A moment later Blaine joined him, bumping his shoulder up against him and smiling. "Looks like Jane may not hate all the Warblers, huh?" It was hard to miss Jane's excited grin as she grabbed Madison's arm and whispered in her ear. "Max is a good kid, I'm glad he got up the courage to talk to her."

"I suppose I'm going to have to learn all those boys' names now, aren't I?" Kurt joked. He was actually making pretty good progress on this front, thanks to a set of flash cards he made from photographs on the Dalton website. Not that Kurt had ever done that before, of course, say, in high school. Definitely not.

"At least you don't keep calling Kitty 'Katie'."

"Rachel hasn't done that in ages."

Blaine laughed. "Yeah, it's been at least a week or two."

They headed out to Blaine's car, talking easily about their rehearsal and plans for the next day. When they got back to Blaine's apartment after a quick stop at the grocery store, Kurt put the milk and butter away in the refrigerator while Blaine leaned up against the kitchen island, checking the messages on his phone. 

"Do you want to do the chicken and asparagus tonight, or the tortellini with tomatoes and mushrooms? The chicken will keep until tomorrow if we want pasta now.... Blaine?" 

Blaine was staring down at his phone, seemingly oblivious to what Kurt was saying. Kurt went over to him and put his arm around his shoulders. "Hey. You okay?"

Blaine shook his head and looked up at Kurt, his eyes wet. "Yeah. Dean Emory texted me. They've got a box of stuff that was recovered from my office at Dalton, I can come pick it up tomorrow. He said it wasn't much..."

"Oh, sweetheart," Kurt said softly, pulling Blaine into a hug. "I'm so sorry."

Blaine sniffed against Kurt's neck, then pulled back and gave Kurt a weak smile. "No, it's okay." He stood up and rolled his shoulders a few times. "I think we should have the chicken. Want to do the salad and I'll cook?"

"Blaine..." 

"What?"

"It's okay to be upset about this."

Blaine put down the frying pan he had pulled out of the cabinet, and turned to face Kurt. "I know. And of course I'm upset. But in the end, Dalton is just a building. My old blazer is just a jacket. Trophies are just metal. They're not what's important."

"But Dalton was where we met, where you proposed. Your safe space."

Blaine nodded in agreement. "And I'm sad that it's gone. But life isn't about things. It's about people."

Kurt gazed at Blaine, caught by the determination in his eyes.

"No one was hurt in the fire. The Warblers - former Warblers - are learning how to work with their new teammates. Their love for music, what they represent, that isn't over. And I can still help them, help the whole group on their road to Sectionals and wherever they go next." Blaine stepped closer to Kurt and ran a hand down his arm, taking his hand and squeezing it. "I still have you. _Us._ These are the things that matter."

"You're amazing, you know that?" Kurt laced his arms around Blaine's neck and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. "I'm so proud of you."

"Yeah, well, all that therapy had to be good for something," Blaine said, resting his head on Kurt's shoulder and settling his hands on his waist.

"Don't make light of this. Accept compliments, remember?" 

Blaine snorted. "I'll work on that tomorrow. Today's assignment was _don't fall into a deep depression after your own personal Hogwarts burns down._ "

"Well, you get an A+." 

Blaine paused, then turned his head, his breath warm and close on Kurt's ear. "Do I get a gold star, professor?" he said softly, sending a rush of excitement through Kurt's body. "I think I deserve something for all my hard work." Blaine pressed his chest flush against Kurt and rolled his hips forward, pushing Kurt up against the kitchen island.

Kurt sucked in a breath and slid a hand down to Blaine's ass, pulling him closer. He was completely on board with this change in topic. Besides, it had been almost eight hours since they’d last had sex. "You've definitely done some _hard_ work," he said, unable to keep the giggle out of his voice. "And I've learned something very important this year about being a teacher."

"Oh?" Blaine's voice hitched as Kurt moved his hands around to the front of his neck, tugging on Blaine's bow tie as he undid it and slid it out of the collar of his shirt. "Um, what did you learn?"

Kurt spun them so that Blaine was leaning against the counter and proceeded to unbutton Blaine's shirt, sucking little kisses to his skin as he went. He paused when he got to Blaine's belt buckle, kneeling on the floor and gazing up at Blaine mischievously, his fingers roaming lower and Blaine breathing faster in anticipation.

"Hard work should always be rewarded."

Much later, over a dinner of tortellini and salad (the chicken had sat out for several hours so it was no longer an option), Kurt pondered his extraordinary good fortune. It didn't matter if Broadway wasn't pounding down his door, or Carmen Tibideaux didn't consider him her special snowflake. He and Blaine were doing work they loved, work that made a difference in people's lives. And they had each other to share it with. The Dalton fire wasn’t keeping Blaine down, and Rachel’s success wasn’t going to hurt either of them. Like the song said, they could rise above the ashes. Together, they would fly.

**Author's Note:**

> The title is, of course, from Darren Criss's song "Rise."


End file.
